


Searching, Waiting for You

by Iron_Eirlyssa (Eirlyssa)



Series: Eirlyssa's 2018 Bingo Fills [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: But this time that's okay, Civil War Team Iron Man, M/M, Multi, Multiverse, Not very MCU Team Cap friendly, Reed Richards is an idiot, Shipper Trash Magical Artifact, Tony Stark Bingo 2018, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 15:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14793203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eirlyssa/pseuds/Iron_Eirlyssa
Summary: An artifact is found, an artifact with one goal and one goal only.Tony Stark will be loved.





	Searching, Waiting for You

**Author's Note:**

> Plays around freely with alternate universes and my personal interpretations thereof. WARNING: this is friendly to Tony Stark, including (but not limited to) interpreting situations and characters in a certain way you might not agree with. Please be aware of this when reading.
> 
> My fill for my K5-square: Multiverse Shenanigans.
> 
> Happy birthday, Tony Stark!

♥ Tony ♥

The mechanism glowed from the inside, a colour that seemed to vacillate between red, pink and purple. Complicated gears decorated the outside, the signs on them unrecognizable and appearing random.

Reed Richards knew they were probably not, knew there had to be some meaning to them.To figure them out, however, would mean waiting. None of his readings so far indicated it was malignant, and he’d made all the notes and drawings and schematics that he could for the moment. One turn of a gear shouldn’t hurt, right? Give some more material to work with, at least.

As he reached out, he wondered if it would change colour, or whether the signs would change, or interact in some way. No discoveries had ever been made without trying some experiments, after all.

In several different universes, the gear turned at the same time, and the mechanism briefly glowed white.

♥ Tony ♥

Steve punched the bag as hard as he could, knowing it would hold up. Tony had been the one to make it, and he never delivered anything but the best. Especially for those he cared about. Even if he pretended it didn’t matter and it didn’t take him any effort or money, waving off thanks.

Not for the first time, he wished he’d realized Tony’s generous nature sooner. By the time he’d finally gotten a clue, it was far too late for what he really wanted. Of course, Tony deserved any happiness, and if Bruce was the one who made him happy, Steve couldn’t be anything but happy for the two of them. Still, he couldn’t help from wishing, sometimes, that he was the one making Tony smile the way Bruce did, all soft and affectionate.

It was the last thought he had before white light swallowed him up.

♥ Tony ♥

Bucky stared up at the stars, feeling supremely stupid as he wondered whether Tony was doing the same in Wakanda. At seven hours ahead, he should currently be sleeping. Of course, it was Tony, so he might still be awake. No doubt there were countless wonderous things to be discovered in Wakanda.

They had faced another tough mission today, and while Bucky was relieved Tony was in no danger, he also missed the man. Missed him, and wished he were Bucky’s to protect.

Instead, because of actions of others committed before Bucky had even met him (and, yes, the fact that he’d murdered Tony’s parents, but the man had outright admitted it was more of a shock than actually blaming him for what he’d done while brainwashed), Tony had found love with T’Challa, who treated him like he deserved to be treated - with respect and adoration. It wasn’t the first time Bucky wished he could be the one showing Tony just how much he was worth.

It was the first time a white light surrounded him when he did so.

♥ Tony ♥

Bruce was considering whether he should go meditate. He’d found himself unable to focus the way he should while in his lab, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get to sleep the way he was currently feeling. Nothing that would have the Hulk showing up, but he was restless nonetheless. As ashamed as he was to admit it, he couldn’t quite keep himself from pining.

There had been another battle today, one the Hulk had not been required for, so he got to watch the entire time as Tony and Thor worked flawlessly together, flirting and bantering and flying in increasingly elaborate maneuvers to show off for eachother. Looking at them, the way they were so happy and comfortable with one another, he couldn’t help but wish that he hadn’t been so shy when first meeting Tony, that he would have dared to ask him out instead of losing him to Thor, that Tony’s dedication would be to him.

The white light came out of nowhere, and he didn’t even have time to call out in alarm.

♥ Tony ♥

Clint’s attention should have been focused on the giant television screen currently displaying some movie, but he couldn’t help but look back at the loveseat every few seconds. He knew it wasn’t cool to be looking at someone else’s boyfriend, but it wasn’t as though he would actually try to steal Tony away. He was Hawkeye - looking was his job.

And to be fair, it was difficult not to look when Tony was this happy. It was like he glowed from the inside, a peaceful smile on his face and affection in his eyes. Of course, that peace and affection was aimed at Steve, but admiring didn’t hurt. Nor did wishing, ever so often, that the peace and affection would be aimed at him, that he would be the reason for Tony’s happiness, that he would wake up beside the genius.

Well, it didn’t hurt until one of those times suddenly involved a white light enveloping him.

♥ Tony ♥

Thor was flying, away from the other Avengers. He needed time by himself, to think and to calm down and to let go of some frustration. Tony had made him a map of locations that would not be harmed should his powers erupt, and always made sure to update it with locations that could use a storm or two. Doing things for his friends, as he always did, trying to make everyone’s lives easier even if it came at the cost of his own comfort.

And Thor had been too blind to see it, had appreciated the showmanship and Tony’s looks and had somehow overlooked the intelligence and kindness in him until it was too late. He had been so busy with his own woes, with Jane, that he never realized it had always been about the fact that she had been there when he was at his lowest. Now he had to watch as Tony spent his time discussing science and magic and everything in-between with the sorcerer, his eyes alight with a life none of them had ever been able to bring about. Even now, he wished he had noticed before what a treasure Tony was, wished it could be him seeing behind those walls and making Tony shine.

He thought the white light was a lightning bolt at first, until he realized it was something entirely different.

♥ Tony ♥

T’Challa had woken up early and was unable to fall asleep again. Not that it mattered all that much - his alarm would go off soon, indicating it was time for yet another day of ruling what still felt like his father’s country the best he could. Despite all of the training he had followed, it still felt like too much most of the time.

Sometimes, when he was unable to stand it anymore, he arranged for a visit to the United States, where the Avengers had their home base. Perhaps it would be time to do so again soon, considering the heaviness he felt and his reluctance to move. He knew Tony was together with the archer, and he couldn’t begrudge them their happiness, but he was not completely immune to jealousy either. They always looked so happy together, laughing and joking around. Whenever his burdens felt the heaviest, he could not help but uncharacteristically wish it was him in the archer’s place, joking with Tony and being happy.

He noticed something right before being surrounded by white light, but not in time to escape it.

♥ Tony ♥

Stephen was half-heartedly reading a book. It was a good thing he had a photographic memory, or he probably wouldn’t have managed to retain any of it. Of course, it was that exact same photographic memory that was currently bothering him, unable to get rid of the image of Tony laughing with Barnes, grin wide on his face and his eyes appearing to shine.

Jealousy was not familiar to Stephen. First, it would require for him to care about another person in the first place, and while Christine had gotten very close, she’d never quite felt that important to him. Second, it would have to mean his interest picked someone else over him, and even with his less than desirable personality traits, he’d never had any trouble whatsoever being anyone’s first choice. Until Tony, who had been with Barnes before Stephen had even met him and was far too loyal to even consider someone else. Tony, who was intelligent and sarcastic and funny, who was a match for Stephen in every way, who was with Barnes instead. Stephen was sure that, had he been the one to meet Tony first, he’d have been the one with Tony. But as tempting as it was to use his magic to be the one to meet Tony first, as much as he sometimes wished he’d not been so self-absorbed when he’d still had a chance, he did consider himself respectable enough not to do such a thing.

The white light wasn’t even his fault, and he didn’t have time to put up any kind of defense before it engulfed him.

♥ Tony ♥

The Operative Critical Response App he’d developed along with Sue Storm (he refused to call her Richards out of principle, and she seemed amused by it) and Hank McCoy would be worth its weight in gold if an App weighed anything. As it was, Tony still loved the thing. Any superhero owned the App, and it helped alert anyone to unexpected events, as well as warning other heroes whenever something went wrong for one of them.

So when he got the message that, at 10:52 P.M., Reed Richards had done something that had no clear effects yet, he prepared himself, telling FRIDAY to have his armor on standby. Of course, that’s the exact moment she alerts him to the cameras up in the compound.

All of the Avengers and their affiliates were present, an earlier Accords meeting in New York having necessitated their presence. Tony had offered for people to stay in the compound if they wanted to, and even though the acceptance of some had astonished him (T’Challa and some of his Dora Milaje, who could afford to rent out an entire hotel if they so wanted to. Doctor Strange, who had methods of travel that would get him to a presumably more comfortable bed instantly) he’d made sure to have the compound prepared.

None of the others much cared, of course. As ‘their home’, they seemed to feel as though they should have been the ones to offer their hospitality, despite the fact that Tony still ended up paying for most of their things. Their Accords-provided salary wasn’t quite enough for them to get what they wanted.

Noticing the clear attitude of the room, that attitude being they’d rather not have him there for anything they’d end up doing, he’d left for his workshop instead.

Considering what FRIDAY was showing him, he decided he was staying in his workshop a little longer to observe, and to be the others’ surprise reinforcement should it be necessary. Though it really shouldn’t be, considering the result of whatever Richards had been messing with appeared to be copies ( _were they copies?_ ) of Rogers, Barnes, Barton, Thor, _Bruce, holy hell, they hadn’t seen him in years_ , T’Challa and Strange. What the hell had Richards done?

It was weird, looking at people who were so similar to the ones he knew, except not quite. New Rogers didn’t have the same beard, New Barnes looked a bit less haunted and a bit more sane than the one Tony knew, New Barton had significantly fewer wrinkles, New Thor looked a little less lost, New Bruce (or was it real Bruce? They hadn’t seen him in a while, so it could be, but Tony didn’t think so) seemed a _lot_ more at ease with himself than any time Tony had ever seen him, New T’Challa looked… well, he looked about the same, and New Strange seemed a little more wary and a little less arrogant.

“Who are you, and where did you come from?” Rogers spoke up, taking charge.

The New group still seemed a bit off, but New Strange was similar enough to roll his eyes. “All things considered, I’d guess it should be obvious who we are.” He eyed Tony’s version of Strange warily, his look being mirrored. “As for where we came from… My first guess would be an alternate universe?”

“That would explain the Operative Critical Response App’s warning - Richards interacted with an unknown artifact, which then glowed white,” T’Challa spoke up. It appeared Romanoff, Rhodey, Vision, Strange and Barnes knew what he was talking about, but the rest of Tony’s Avengers looked a bit startled. He smothered the unkind thought that the others really should learn to read. So yes, he was still rather bitter over the entire Civil War mess, considering how, even though they _had_ ended up signing the Accords, the entire thing was still blamed on Tony.

“There was a white light right before I appeared here,” New Thor agreed, the others nodding and agreeing as well.

“A better question is whether we all came from the same universe.” Tony already liked New Bruce, asking the questions he would like answered. If it was a one-universe transfer thing, it was just a simple matter of getting them back. If it was multiple universes, not only did it make the sending home more difficult, it was also a matter of finding out what they had in common to have been targeted.

It was New Rogers who spoke up first this time. “I know I was in the gym when I was transported here,” he offered.

“Well, I know you’re not from my universe then,” New Barton laughed. “You were on the loveseat cuddling with Tony when I got transported.”

New Rogers looked shocked. “Cuddling with Tony?”

“Yeah, he’s your boyfriend, at least in my universe,” New Barton shrugged. In his lab, Tony was shocked.

“In my universe, you are the one who is his partner,” New T’Challa admitted to New Barton. “So it seems I’m from yet another universe.”

“Same, considering it’s His Highness with Tony in my universe.” New Barnes was looking around at everyone searchingly, his eyes lingering a bit on this universe’s Avengers. Tony had no doubt he was categorizing every difference with his own universe carefully.

New Strange shook his head. “Barnes is the one with Tony in my universe, so I’m from a different universe again.” It was weird, hearing any version of Strange say his first name. It was also weird to realize he was with various different Avengers across all of their universes. He felt faintly uncomfortable, but he wasn’t quite sure why.

“The sorcerer is the one in a relationship with Tony in my universe,” New Thor said, looking somewhat warily at both Strange and New Strange.

“And in my universe, it’s you,” New Bruce, who therefore was definitely New Bruce and not this universe’s Bruce, told New Thor.

“Bruce is the one who’s with Tony in my universe,” New Rogers was the last to weigh in. Which meant that, apparently, they were all from different universes. Which differed in the Avenger Tony was in a relationship with.

Yeah, no way he was going outside yet. This was simultaneously awkward, which he would be able to deal with, and a little bit painful, which meant he was mostly tempted to pretend the entire situation didn’t exist. Except that would be the coward’s way out, and Tony was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t usually one of them. So he forced himself to keep watching.

Of course, no one had time to ask the obvious follow-up of why they had been the ones transported. Instead, Barton spoke up. “The hell would any version of me be in any way interested in that arrogant asshole?” He was mostly looking incredulously at New T’Challa, who gave him an equally incredulous look back.

New Barton scoffed. “Wow, this universe’s version of me is a stupid dick,” he stated, sounding absolutely serious. A few of the other News were nodding as well.

“To be fair, you’re a stupid dick in my universe, too.” Even more astonishingly, New Thor seemed to agree with New Barnes on that. Tony himself… was rather speechless, and a bit scared of the fact that all of these New versions seemed to not dislike him. It was weird.

A message popped up from FRIDAY, telling him all the tests she had run pointed towards these New versions actually being who they claimed they were.

“So what was the reason we were teleported to this universe, from several different ones?” Yeah, Tony liked New Bruce.

It clearly wasn’t what they were doing, considering they were all different things. It was when Original Strange wondered if it was something they were thinking, a few of them blushed and a few others twitched. Then they all looked at one another, appeared to realize something all at the same time, and all the News puffed up while glaring challengingly at one another. Tony was mystified, and fortunately, it seemed the rest of the Avengers were as well.

“Something you were thinking, then?” Original T’Challa surmised.

Some of the News glared, a few others evaded eye contact, and a few shrugged. In the end it was New Bruce, still looking at the ground, who spoke up. “It, ah, appears so, yes.”

Silence fell as the Avengers waited for the News to say what, and Tony could have told them it didn’t look like any of them were willing to say it out loud. New Strange, still glaring at the Avengers, was the one who broke the silence, but not to answer the question. “Where is your universe’s Tony Stark, anyway?”

This seemed to startle the rest of the News as well, who now started observing the lineup across from them.

“Still down in his workshop, I’d guess,” Original Rogers shrugged, not seeming to care all that much.

Rhodey glared at him. “Down in his workshop, yes, probably watching this entire thing in case he needs to come in for reinforcement. Not that I’m hoping that will be necessary.” Now he was glaring at the News, inspecting them.

New Rogers immediately held up his hands. “Absolutely not! We don’t know how we got here, but we’re not here to cause any kind of trouble,” he tried to appease Tony’s best friend. It seemed to be only marginally successful, and Rhodey kept watching all of them carefully from the armor he’d quickly donned.

Frowning, Tony told FRIDAY to tell them to come in. Despite his work on Rhodey’s braces, standing for long periods of time still wasn’t comfortable.

The News startled slightly when she spoke up, and New Barton frowned. “Who’s that?”

New Thor seemed surprised. “You have never met FRIDAY?” None of the other News seemed unfamiliar with her, so Tony had to wonder as well. “Tony created her.”

“Why create her when he has JARVIS?” New Barton asked, and Tony flinched. New Barnes, New Thor, New T’Challa and New Strange seemed surprised.

New Bruce seemed almost as surprised at their reactions. “He didn’t make her to be a sort of personal assistant to him in your universe?” New Rogers’ universe seemed to be the same in that regard, considering he nodded.

Clearly, New Barton had an entirely different universe, because he just shook his head. New Thor grimaced. “In my universe, JARVIS did not survive Ultron’s attack and the creation of the Vision.” New Bruce, New Barton and New Rogers appeared horrified, while the others nodded.

“No JARVIS?” New Bruce almost whispered. “How on earth did Tony deal with that?”

Original Rogers showed about as much understanding as he ever had. “It’s just a computer program. And he made FRIDAY later to do all of the butler stuff.”

Something calmed in Tony when all of the News looked at Original Rogers like he was a disgusting bug that had absolutely no comprehension of the world. “Great, my other version is a stupid dick, too,” New Rogers bit out, sounding absolutely vicious. Each and every one of the other News nodded. For the first time since losing JARVIS, it felt like there was someone who understood what he had meant to Tony.

“So,” New Thor started when they had all gathered around a conference table large enough to fit all of them, “who is the Man of Iron’s partner in this universe, then?”

Tony flinched as both Maximoff and Romanoff snorted while Original Barton barked out a laugh. Rhodey glared at all of them, but he’d heard Tony tell him often enough not to engage on his behalf that he left it at that. “No idea what messed up places you come from, but the only stable relationship in Stark’s life has been with his ego.”

“Permission to murder him slowly and painfully,” New Bucky said flatly, glaring at Original Barton.

“Granted,” New Clint agreed easily, observant eyes looking at all of the Avengers, who seemed startled. In fact, all of the News appeared to be observing the Avengers. None of them seemed impressed.

In a weird communication thing no one else was able to follow, the News then looked at one another, appearing to have a conversation with only facial expressions. Romanoff, as well as Original Barnes and Original T’Challa, appeared to be doing their best to figure it out, but as far as Tony could see, they were getting no further than he was. All of the News then appeared to come to an agreement, looking determined.

Although Tony was relatively sure they wouldn’t hurt anyone, or at least too much, he still tensed a little. Determination meant a decision when it came to acting, and it was still a risk.

“So, in the interest of figuring out if you’re all assholes,” New Stephen started, steadfastly ignoring the gasps across the table, “who here hates or dislikes Tony Stark?”

None of the Avengers looked quite sure what to do with that, although Maximoff and Original Barton easily held up their hands, as did Lang. New T’Challa and New Clint looked at Original Barton with glares, while both New Steve and New Bruce seemed quite astonished at Maximoff, which, to Tony, was weird. She’d always hated him.

“Look, he probably means well, but - ” Original Rogers started, because of course he couldn’t just admit that he disliked Tony, but New Steve cut him off.

“Whatever, you’re an asshole, that’s a yes.” New Steve took absolutely no shit, and Tony was unable to help but like it. “Anyone else wanting to make excuses while still talking shit?”

Astonishingly, it seemed like Rhodey liked this New Steve as well, now looking at him approvingly as he glared his way around the table. New Bucky just grimaced. “Seems like my universe, except a little further along. Romanoff still has a shit opinion of him but will use him if necessary. Thor just thinks he’s flashy and annoying. T’Challa is unimpressed with him, Strange doesn’t care because he doesn’t know Tony and doesn’t want to know Tony, same with Wilson except Rogers talked shit about Tony to him as well, the other version of me is mostly very wary of Tony but doesn’t know him either and Rogers won’t let him, and Vision is too enamored with Maximoff’s stone-given powers to do more than care a little, but not enough.”

Tony swallowed. This… he didn’t know what to do with these people.

“Wow, this universe sucks,” New Clint scoffed. “No wonder we all got teleported here.”

“Why _did_ you all get teleported here?” Original T’Challa asked, having puffed up like an offended cat. “You never did say what you all were thinking.”

“And you’re not going to be the one we tell that to,” New T’Challa claimed, sounding very authoritative, and all the other News nodded in agreement. Realization was dawning on at least Romanoff, Originals Barnes, T’Challa and Strange, and on Rhodey.

Well, he was a hero for a reason. Facing crappy situations was part of that, even though he’d rather send himself through a shredder. They did have to find out what the News were doing here, after all, and if there was any way to send them back or if they had a mission to complete before being able to return to their own universe.

So when Original Rogers asked them who they _would_ tell, Tony was already moving through the compound and to the room where they were all gathered.

And when New Stephen told them “Tony Stark, of course,” he was just entering.

“I heard my name?” he remarked, covering his uncertainty with a confident smirk. It was only years of covering up his true emotions that allowed him to remain unmoved when all of the News genuinely _smiled_ when they saw him, like they were actually happy to see him. The only ones who did that were Rhodey, Harley and Peter, and maybe sometimes Pepper and Happy. To have people who usually didn’t care for him at best and disliked him at worst smile at him like that (except Bruce, but Original Bruce hadn’t stuck around, so at least he probably didn’t care after all, at least not enough… kind of like Vision, he supposed) mostly had him waiting for the other stone to drop.

Except the only thing dropping was everyone’s jaws as the News all got up. “I would like your permission to court you.”

“As would I.”

“It would be my honour.”

“I would like to compete as well.”

“I hope you’ll accept my request, too.”

“Please allow me to prove myself to you.”

“Count me in as well, if you accept.”

That… was not what he had expected. “I… Okay?”

At least they all seemed to have rather nice smiles. It was nice to make someone happy, for once. And hell, if nothing else, this would be interesting. Not to mention the sour look of most of the Avengers made it more than worth it (as did the grin on Rhodey’s face).

♥ Tony ♥

And so it came to be that Tony was courted by seven alternate universe Avengers. It sucked to learn how some things could have gone, and not just for him: had Steve and the Maximoffs not interfered, JARVIS would have lived - and if JARVIS had lived, he would have been able to save Pietro’s life. Similarly, the difference in numbers of the people he could have saved if he had been informed of the info dump, as in New Steve and New Clint’s universes, made both him and Original Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff flinch. Not to mention the fact that, according to New Clint and New T’Challa, Coulson was still alive - that resulted in quite a mess. In New Bruce’s universe, Tony having been called by Thor about London had apparently saved quite a few people as well, not to mention the property damage. In addition, being told about his parents before the entire Civil War apparently not only prevented at least most of it, but it also ended up with Barnes being far better off in the universes of New Steve, New Clint, and New Stephen than any of the others.

As for the romantic part, well, all of the News definitely tried their best, taking him out on dates and giving him lovely presents and, more importantly, giving him enough validation that it made him entirely uncertain at first. For the first time, it felt like he didn’t have to struggle against the world, a realization that had him retreating into his workshop for a few days until FRIDAY alerted him to a fight between the News and some of the Avengers. Apparently, his suitors were very determined to respect his wishes to be left alone, and very determined not to have anyone talk shit about him. FRIDAY and Rhodey loved them.

In the end, it turned out going back to their own universe was as simple as them talking things out with Tony and either side realizing they wouldn’t be the one he ended up with. New Clint was the first to go, though he promised that if Tony ever needed someone to murder his Avengers, he’d be one call away. New T’Challa felt unable to stay due to his responsibilities to Wakanda, which Tony understood completely. Sadly, New Bruce had to leave soon after, admitting this universe depressed him and he had to leave for his own mental health, which Tony agreed to, though he admitted that he did still love Tony and that he hoped the others would show him how much he was worth.

As for New Steve, New Bucky, New Thor and New Stephen, well… they wouldn’t be giving up their chance at Tony’s heart easily. And watching this new universe’s Tony thrive under their attentions, they each fell a little more in love with him.

♥ Tony ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
